LITA Awards Committees
Publicity
Nominations
Committee Meetings
Selection
Award
LITA Awards Committees
It is the duty of the Committee Chair to:
- Obtain and review the previous committee's file, if necessary.
- Attend the joint Committees orientation sessions, if attending the Annual Conference, or contact the Committee Coordinator for orientation materials and calendars.
- Create an evaluation form for the selection process.
- In cooperation with the LITA office, publicize their particular award to colleagues and notable candidates.
- Schedule meetings to be held during the Midwinter Meeting according to the ALA schedule for the selection of an award recipient. Deliberations are "closed sessions."
- Acknowledge the receipt of the nominations.
- Following the award selection, forward appropriate documentation, including a press release, to the LITA office no later than three weeks following the Midwinter Meeting.
- The chair is responsible for coordinating activities related to the presentation of the award at the President's Program at the Annual Conference.
- Forward committee file to the incoming chair upon completion of term.
[Award Procedures Table of Contents]
Publicity:
The LITA office prepares the awards announcement for American Libraries with a brief description of the awards to encourage nominations. Committee members are encouraged to announce the awards on email discussion lists to solicit nominations between the Annual Meeting and early November.
[Award Procedures Table of Contents]
Nominations and letters of recommendations may be received from individual ALA members and should reach the appropriate LITA Awards committee by the date noted on the application. Each nomination should be submitted in writing and accompanied by a statement of qualifications as well as reasons for the choice. Receipt of each nomination will be promptly acknowledged by the committee chair to the person who made the nomination.
Members of the committee and the past-chair are to publicize awards at the Annual Conference and encourage nominations. Committee members may canvass various segments of the profession for suggestions and appropriate nominations. (This procedure may be started prior to the awards announcement.) In the absence of a suitable pool of nominations from the ALA membership, the committee will identify and assemble additional qualified candidates, and be prepared to present their nominations at the midwinter meeting. Each member may be called upon to bring nominations to the committee.
Nomination information for individuals who did not receive the award for which they were nominated shall be forwarded to the incoming chair of the committee for consideration in the next year if the committee considers the nominee worthy of further consideration. Nominations which have been pending for more than three years are to be destroyed. Each annual committee must rule on the eligibility of nominations according to the overall policy outlined in the LITA Manual and in the stated terms of the particular award. The vendor sponsor liaison should be included in the review of nominations.
[Award Procedures Table of Contents]
Meetings will be closed when considering merits of individuals or projects for awards unless otherwise specified by the donor of an award and agreed to by the awards committee. Committees can meet at the Midwinter Meeting, electronically, or via conference call.
Committee chairs should inform the LITA office of any problems that arise in the handling of their duties and make any recommendations concerning the award, that they deem necessary.
[Award Procedures Table of Contents]
Each committee member will be provided with the names of all eligible candidates/projects, the nominating statements, and other supporting documentation prior to the Midwinter Meeting. A systematic procedure for evaluating nominations should be agreed upon prior to selection. It is strongly suggested that the procedure and/or form utilized the previous year be used or at least serve as a point of reference. If a vote is taken, all committee members, including the chair, are entitled to vote. The committee chair will notify the LITA office, which will forward the name of the candidate to the Board as soon as the selection is made.
[Award Procedures Table of Contents]
- The LITA Board will be notified of the award committee’s decision before the LITA office sends official notification to the award recipient. The LITA office will notify the committee chair, sponsor and award recipient in writing. The committee chair may notify the winner of the award in a less formal fashion with the reminder that while the news of his/her selection may be shared with friends and colleagues, no formal announcement is to be made until the LITA office issues the press releases.
- The committee chair is responsible for writing the citation for presentation at the awards ceremony. The citation should be suitable for reading at the presentation ceremony and should: (a) include pertinent information, succinctly stated, as to why the winner was selected; (b) not exceed 200 words in length.
- The committee chair is responsible for determining if the award recipient can attend the ceremony and will help identify a surrogate if the recipient is unable to attend and so wishes.